


And Reaching for the Sun

by FeralCreed



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Accidental meeting, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Family Fluff, Gen, Indian Harry Potter, Indian James Potter, Lily Ships It, M/M, Modern Era, Sirius and James are siblings in all but blood okay, Sirius is one hundred percent a dad to Hari, beginning of a relationship, kinda meet cute I guess?, wolfstar, you will pry Indian Harry Potter from my COLD DEAD HANDS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 18:30:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16046150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralCreed/pseuds/FeralCreed
Summary: Sirius is on his way home from Paris for his birthday when his flight is delayed. When a cute stranger strikes up a conversation with him, he makes a spontaneous decision that just might turn into something bigger.





	And Reaching for the Sun

“What do you mean, a _six-hour-long delay?_ ” Sirius demanded. “This flight's supposed to be coming into London just two hours from now.”

 

“Je suis désolé, monsieur,” the attendant said with a slight shrug. “The original plane is unable to fly and that is the soonest we can redirect another craft. Please move aside. There are other people in line and there is nothing else I can do to help you.”

 

Sirius sighed, running a hand through his long hair as he turned away from the desk. He'd been cutting things close as it was. And now, with this delay, there was no way that he'd be able to make it to London by the time they'd set. He better call James. There were a handful of other passengers milling in the area, and another one had already been sent away from the airline's desk as his call started to connect. Ringing, ringing, more ringing... and finally an answer.

 

“Sirius! What's up? I thought you were boarding your second plane right now.”

 

“I thought I was going to be too. Listen, there's been some kind of screw up with the airline. The girl at the desk said 'the original plane is unable to fly' and they can't get another one for six _fucking_ hours.”

 

“Aw, man.” There was quiet on the other end of the line for a long moment. “I'll let Lily know. We might have to delay things a little, but don't worry, we're not gonna let you miss out on the fun.”

 

He couldn't help a smile at that. “Hey, you know me, I'm never going to miss anything fun, especially my own party. Say hi to Lily and Hari for me, okay? I'll be there soon as I can.”

 

James laughed. “You're gonna be able to say hi yourself in just a few hours, Pads. No need for me to do it. But yeah, I will. You won't believe how big Hari's been getting. I know Lily's been sending you all kinds of pictures, but really, you gotta see him. Let me know when you finally get to board, okay? We'll be able to pick you up at Heathrow, with the delay.”

 

“Yeah, I'll let you know,” Sirius agreed. “Call you later.” He'd have to plug his phone in somewhere, with this long of a layover. And he might as well get his laptop out. There were a few movies that he wanted to watch that were on Netflix, and he had his headphones too. If the layover was a few hours longer, he would have just gone to sleep, but just taking a short nap would end up making him tired. Huffing an annoyed sigh under his breath, he slung his backpack off his shoulder, trying to remember which pocket he'd put his phone charger in.

 

It was a pretty lawless time to be stuck in an airport. After getting his laptop and charger out, Sirius shoved his bag under his chair and stretched his legs out. What was the worst that could happen? He'd spent sixteen years with his mother, he could spend six hours in an airport. But he wasn't looking forward to the prices of airport food. Getting a coffee sounded like a pretty good idea, though. Nothing couldn't be fixed with a little bit of coffee. It would be way too expensive, but it would be much better than nothing.

 

“Hey,” said an unfamiliar voice. Sirius glanced up, blinking. The man standing in front of him was tall and lanky, with messy light brown hair and friendly eyes. “You stuck here for six hours too?”

 

“God, yeah,” Sirius said, rolling his eyes. “I thought I'd be in London two hours from now, but now... What about you, where are you headed?”

 

“London, too. I was taking a vacation in Paris before starting a teaching position. Not anything fancy, but I've always enjoyed working with kids.” The man slipped the strap of his messenger bag over his head and sat down in the seat next to Sirius. “I'm Remus,” he added, holding out his hand.

 

“Sirius,” the dark-haired man answered, shaking it. “Yeah, I know, it's weird. My parents named all their kids after stars, it's kind of a family tradition.”

 

“My dad was a history nerd who named me after Remus from Roman mythology. So believe me, I get weird names.”

 

Sirius barked out a laugh. “That beats a star. I'm heading home for my birthday. And to see my godson. It's been the better part of a year since I've seen him.”

 

“Well, happy birthday, thn. I can buy you a cup of coffee that's ten times more expensive than it should be to celebrate?” Remus offered with a grin.

 

“I was just thinking a coffee would sound pretty good,” Sirius admitted, closing his laptop. “Let me pack this up real quick.” The last thing he wanted to do was leave his laptop sitting alone in the middle of the airport. “So what are you going to be teaching in London?”

 

“Year 10, history. I should be ready for a whole lot of troublemakers, huh?”

 

“I certainly got into a lot of trouble as a teenager. Got kicked out of four different schools by the time I got to year 10.”

 

Remus laughed quietly as he stood up. “I can't imagine what you did to get into that much trouble.”

 

“Everything I could, really,” Sirius admitted, following him to the nearest coffee shop. “Pranking teachers, fighting with students, all kinds of things.”

 

“So what changed? If you don't mind me asking.”

 

“Met my best friend. Well, my brother, to be honest. We got along right from the start. James' son Hari is my godson.”

 

“That's great,” Remus said. “No kids of your own?”

 

“Nah, I'm way too gay for that.”

 

“Same.”

 

Sirius blinked in surprise before grinning widely. “You know, most guys freak out when I say that. That's cool. You got a boyfriend?”

 

Their conversation continued as they got their coffees. Remus was a year younger than Sirius, he was an only sibling, he taught history but his favourite subject in school was literature, he'd like a pet bird, his favourite colour was red, he preferred the mountains to the beach, and he'd never ridden on a motorcycle. Sirius, in turn, shared that he had a younger brother he almost never talked to, he'd said science but didn't really enjoy anything about school, he knew dogs were the superior pets, he also thought red was a great colour but preferred blue, and liked any sort of vacation spot.

 

“I've got a motorcycle at James' place,” he added. “Triumph Bonneville 1969. If you're moving into the city, you should come by sometime. I'll give you a ride.”

 

“I've got no idea if your buddy James' place is anywhere near where I'm going to be living,” Remus pointed out.

 

“Yeah, but it _could_ be. Here, give me your number. You said you weren't starting your job for another week, right, Remus? You could come with me tomorrow.”

 

Remus had already taken Sirius' phone to put his number in, but at the last sentence, he paused. “I mean... you said it was your birthday, right? That's not really something that you invite a total stranger to.”

 

“Nah, James won't care about anything like that,” Sirius said with a smile. “Besides, since you got me a coffee, I won't even ask you to get me another present.”

 

Remus found himself hard-pressed to come up with more objections, especially in the face of the wink that Sirius had added on the end. “Sure, I guess there's no reason not to. Tell me more about your family, then? Since it sounds like I'm gonna be visiting.”

 

Sirius pocketed his phone. “Well, since you asked...” He had a lot of stories to tell when it came to James, especially with their school years together. And Remus had plenty of his own to share. For all that it had been a chance encounter, he was enjoying their conversation. Remus was interesting as hell, and James had been bugging Sirius to talk to more people for... forever, really. But Sirius had never put as much stock in having a whole bunch of friends as his brother did. A few close relationships went a lot further.

 

The six hours passed a lot faster than he'd expected. Boarding came with another delay, but not nearly as bad as the original. Once they were actually on the plane, though, things went a lot more smoothly. He even managed to convince Remus' original seatmate to switch with him, though it meant he didn't get a window seat like he'd originally wanted. Still, he'd flown from Paris to London more than once. It wasn't like he was missing the view.

 

He did, however, start getting impatient as soon as the plane started circling over Heathrow. Remus simply rolled his eyes and looked out the window, watching with interest as the plane made its descent. The other passengers seemed to share Sirius' attitude, and disembarking didn't take very long. As soon as they were in the actual airport, Sirius took his phone off airplane mode and texted James. Five or six separate messages, if Remus was any judge, but he'd already gotten a pretty clear idea that Sirius was the kind of guy that didn't do anything by halves.

 

“JAMES!” Sirius bellowed suddenly, scaring the shit out of an unsuspecting Remus. “HEY POTTER, OVER HERE!” Grinning from ear to ear, he broke into a run. Remus decided to stay at a walk, since he had no idea where Sirius was going and knew better than to start sprinting around in an airport. Instead he watched as the other man threw himself into the open arms of a stranger barely shorter than he was but with much darker skin. They looked equally delighted to see each other, which lured a smile out of Remus himself despite the racket they were making.

 

“Prongs, you'll _never_ believe the wait in Paris, I don't know what happened to that first plane but it was at the worst possible time! How's Lily? How's Hari? What about your parents? You know you've still gotta let me take the kid out for a ride on my bike. Or is it Lily that disapproves of that? And I hope you two finally redecorated that damn lounge that didn't see a paint can since the seventies. It's a crime to keep a kid in a house that's so outdated.” Sirius rattled on, putting an arm around James' shoulders and pulling him in Remus' direction. “And you'll never guess who this is!”

 

“I am so very sorry that you had to meet Sirius while he was unsupervised,” James said sincerely.

 

“Hey, I am a _delight!_ ” Sirius protested.

 

“That's a funny way to pronounce 'insane'.”

 

“I'm Remus,” Remus interjected, holding his hand out to James. “And I thought he was worse on his own, but clearly I was wrong.”

 

“Oh, I like this one,” James said. “So who are you, then? How did you two meet?”

 

“We were on the same flight to London that got delayed,” Sirius explained. “I invited him to come along. He's never been on a motorcycle!”

 

“Sirius, did you invite someone to a family gathering just because you wanted to show off your bike?” James asked.

 

“That's what I wanted to know,” Remus said.

 

“Partially, but he's also pretty cool, and you're always acting like our mother and telling me to get more friends.”

 

“I do not act like our mother.”

 

“Oh yes you do!”

 

“Children, let's get our suitcases off the baggage carousel,” Remus interrupted. Sirius and James followed behind him, still bickering over James' similarities to their mom until Sirius tripped over the carpet and had to grab the other man's shoulder to stay upright. They settled into a conversation about their family, and in Remus' opinion, James did a great job of including him in it. His earlier talk with Sirius paid off, since he at least knew a little bit about the people being mentioned.

 

Sirius found his suitcase first, and somehow it didn't surprise Remus all that much that it was in the rainbow colours of the pride flag. He sat down on it, chatting freely with James until Remus had grabbed his own red one. And then they were on their way, to James' car in the parking lot and then onto the highway leading into the heart of London. Remus was allowed the front passenger seat, prompting many dramatic complaints from Sirius that the baby seat in the back was taking up too much space for him to be comfortable.

 

James, and soon Remus, ignored him. The ride from the airport to the Potter home was just about forty minutes long. And at the end of it, the home they pulled up in front of was a beautiful two-story home, with a well-maintained front lawn and a sidewalk lined with flowerpots. There was a second car in the driveway, this one an older minivan. Sirius had kept up a nearly constant stream of chatter the whole ride over, and it didn't abate in the slightest once they pulled into the driveway. It didn't take long for the two travellers to get their belongings out of the car, and then James led the way up the front steps with Remus bringing up the rear.

 

“Sirius!” came a cheerful woman's voice from inside. “Oh, it's so good to see you again. How was Paris?”

 

“Hello, Lily! Paris was magnificent, thanks. There's some beautiful- Hari! Shit, he's gotten so big since I saw him, when did that happen?” Remus turned around just in time to see Sirius pick up a toddler and press a noisy kiss to his cheek. The boy giggled and grabbed at a loose strand of hair, which he got away with until he started tugging at it. Then Sirius gently removed it from the toddler's fist and tucked it behind his ear, still smiling affectionately.

 

“Who's this?” the woman asked, and Remus waved awkwardly.

 

“This is Sirius' friend Remus,” James said cheerfully. “They met at the airport and Sirius invited him to stay here for... probably indefinitely, knowing him.”

 

“Not true,” Sirius protested.

 

“Pretty much,” Remus said at the same time. Sirius shot him a dirty look that was ruined by the fact that he was holding a laughing toddler.

 

“I'm Lily,” the woman introduced herself, coming over to give him a hug. “You really are welcome here. What brings you to London?”

 

“I got hired at a teaching position in South Kensington. We were on the same flight that got delayed, started talking, and, well. Sirius invited me to come with him and stay until I'd had the chance to ride his motorcycle.”

 

“Was that presented as a euphemism or does it just sound like that when you say it?” Lily asked. “I wasn't aware that Sirius had a boyfriend, but he does keep secrets sometimes.”

 

“Unless he calls his junk a Triumph Bonneville 1969, that's my fault,” Remus managed to say, cheeks reddening. Sirius didn't look any better, which only made Lily laugh.

 

“All right, you two get your things settled in the upstairs bedrooms. It's not that late, I don't think. Quarter to three. Perfect time for tea. Remus, any allergies or religious observances?”

 

“No, thanks.”

 

“Perfect. Sirius, I hope you remember the way.”

 

“Of course, lovely Lily,” Sirius said. He set Hari back down on the floor, grinning when the boy immediately ran over to his father. James picked him up and set him on his hip as he walked into the kitchen, talking with Lily about her plans for food. Remus, in the meantime, found his hand grabbed by Sirius before he was led upstairs. “There's two guest rooms, you can choose either one you like, I don't care. The first one is a bit bigger but it's also right across from Hari's room, so you'll probably hear it if he wakes up in the middle of the night.”

 

“Doesn't matter to me,” Remus answered, letting Sirius pull him into the second guest room.

 

“You say that now, but that kid gets his loudness from his father.”

 

“Sure it's not from you?”

 

Sirius barked out a laugh and ran his free hand through his hair. Then he let go of Remus' hand and sat down on the bed, leaning back on his hands. “Maybe just a little bit. I do have a bunch of great qualities, after all. But James is a great dad, he's doing a good job. Hari was a complete accident, and let me tell you, that man was freaking out and thinking he was going to mess up.”

 

“He seems like a good guy,” Remus agreed, sitting down next to him.

 

“The absolute best. His parents are really nice, too. They adopted me when I was sixteen, and you wouldn't know I wasn't their blood to hear 'em talk about me. Of course, there's people that are complete assholes about it, saying that his parents aren't 'really British' because they're ethnically Indian. But you can't do anything about people who are that stupid.”

 

“You really can't. Do they know about...”

 

“That I'm a flaming queer?” Sirius asked. “Oh yeah. Mum figured it out before I did, really. I always thought that because I found girls aesthetically attractive, it meant I was straight. But then I realised that I was never actually sexually or romantically attracted to them. Actually, it was an ace friend of mine – asexual, though she's pretty awesome too – that helped me figure it out. I didn't get how you couldn't want to bang _anyone_ out there, so I was asking her all these questions.”

 

“And the way she talked about people was the way you felt about girls?”

 

“Exactly. But the Potters were really accepting of it. I was kind of worried at first, because my biological family, god, they were such bigots. Would have kicked me out if they ever knew. But I haven't talked to any of them since I was sixteen, besides my one cousin Andromeda. She's nothing like them, she's great. Only person worth talking to on the entire family tree. What about you?”

 

“Well, I was home on break from university my first year, and my parents said they'd be out for the night. So I went out on a date with this guy, brought him back home, we were making out on the couch. And my parents came home early.” Remus smiled sheepishly. “My dad joked about having bad timing and they went back out, but the mood was already kind of ruined. He said he wanted to talk when they came back. Just said he wanted me to be happy and safe with whatever I was doing. I never doubted that they'd be okay with me being... whatever the hell, but it was just _telling_ them that was hard.”

 

“Yeah, I can understand that,” Sirius said with a nod. “If they hadn't already known, I don't know if I could have told them. James actually invited me to pride first. He says I had an even stupider look on my face than normal when he asked me to go with him. I can't imagine me ever being stupid, but it did really take me by surprise.”

 

“I guess we both got pretty lucky.”

 

“We really did. So, you mentioned earlier that you didn't have a boyfriend right now, but have you ever dated a guy?”

 

“Not seriously. Just a few one night stands, some flirting here and there. There's an abominable shortage of gay guys. You?”

 

“I have been widely known as a playboy since I started flirting with people,” Sirius said with a little laugh. “But I don't know, there's been a few long-term things. I just never seemed to find someone that I really clicked with. I mean, I'm not looking for some kind of Disney fairy tale prince to come sweep me off my feet... but I still like romantic shit sometimes. A lot of people just seem like they aren't looking for anything long term. Honestly, I got along better with you in the last twelve hours than I did with half the guys I dated.”

 

“Well, then clearly you should date me,” Remus joked, giving him a grin.

 

“Hey, you say that like I wouldn't,” Sirius answered with a matching smile. Then he froze and stared at Remus with a questioning look.

 

“I mean- I could be- that would- I'd be okay with that,” Remus finally managed to say. “I mean, no, that's, it's stupid and crazy cause we don't even really know each other, it's probably a bad idea.”

 

“Yeah, but we get to learn. That's the whole point of dating people, isn't it? Learning more about them and getting a better relationship?”

 

“Well, when you put it like that... sure. Sure, I'll date you. If you tell me your last name.”

 

Sirius threw back his head and laughed, a sound that made Remus' lips curve up in a smile. “It's Black. Sirius Orion Black. When I said my parents were big on the star names, I really wasn't kidding. So what about you?”

 

“Remus John Lupin.”

 

“Oh my god, your name means Wolf Wolf.”

 

“Does _not_.”

 

“Oh, definitely does. That's great.”

 

“You're an asshole,” Remus grumbled.

 

“Well, yeah, maybe. But since we're dating, that makes me your asshole.” The corner of Sirius' mouth turned up in a smile, and then he leaned forward and kissed Remus.

 

It was a surprise, to say the least, but he couldn't say that it was an unpleasant one. Remus kissed him back, one hand coming up to cup Sirius' face. In moments, Sirius had pushed him back against the mattress, fingers pressing into the skin over Remus' hip. He hadn't kissed anyone like this in a long time, but it didn't take very long for him to find out that Sirius particularly liked attention to his throat. Not only that, but he was a very good kisser.

 

“You know, I usually don't put out until the first date,” Remus teased.

 

Sirius barked out a laugh and kissed the bridge of his nose. “I know that Lily would never let me get away with skipping out on my first night home. But would you let me take you out on a date tomorrow night?”

 

“You know me, I'm never able to resist a handsome man.”

 

“Perfect.” Sirius kissed him again, then carefully shifted his body over Remus' to lay next to him. “So until then, why don't we get to know each other? We can play twenty questions or something. Lily will yell for us when tea's ready, or send James.”

 

“He does know to knock, right?” Remus asked.

 

Sirius snorted and put an arm across Remus' waist. “I'd say he does but it _is_ James we're talking about. He knows jack shit about subtlety and personal space.”

 

“Learned it from you, did he?”

 

“A little bit, yeah. We're not that big on personal boundaries with each other. I don't think there's anything I don't know about James, or the other way around. Honestly, we might as well have grown up with each other from birth. Even with him marrying Lily and having Hari, it's not like we suddenly forgot each other existed. I've heard other people say that they barely saw their friend again after they got married and I just don't get it.”

 

“People are all kinds of crazy.” Remus was about to say something else when there was a knock at the door.

 

“You two better not be shagging in there,” James said.

 

“Of course we're not,” Sirius said, exasperated. “Food's ready?”

 

The door opened and James invited himself in, sitting down at the foot of the bed. “Yeah. There's still some of mum's kachori left from the last time she visited, and Lily's learned how to make samosa. And we have sandwiches and cake, Remus, since I don't know that you'll like Indian food. Sirius was a baby about it the first time.”

 

“That's because you didn't warn me how spicy that curry was,” Sirius protested.

 

“Anyway, if you and the drama queen aren't too busy, we're ready downstairs. And don't forget to bring your suitcase up, Sirius, last time you left it in the lounge all week long and it annoyed Lily to death.”

 

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed. “Ready to go get something to eat, Remus?”

 

“I'm always ready for food.”

 

With James leading the way, the three of them went downstairs. Lily had put her bright red hair up into a bun, which Hari was unsuccessfully trying to pull down. Sirius took him with a smile, sitting down at the kitchen table and settling the boy in his lap. It wasn't long before the three-year-old got distracted by one of the shiny silver rings on Sirius' hands. The dark-haired man was unperturbed by only being able to use one hand, though he didn't let Hari pull the ring off his finger as he seemed intent on doing. Remus sat down next to him, as invited by Lily, and decided that strange though the lot of them may look to an outsider, they truly did make up a family – and he wanted to be a part of it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was going to be one of those "it's 2am and both our flights were delayed so we ended up talking but I don't know if I'll see you again after tonight." But then it went in a completely different direction. 
> 
> One of my favourite headcanons is that James was Indian, and named his son Hari (Sanskrit for Lion) which was anglicised to Harry by the Dursleys. So there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to put that in here. 
> 
> This is actually the first time I've written anyone in the Harry Potter fandom besides Remus, so... hopefully I did okay?


End file.
